


A Moonless Hunt

by GodlessOx



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26138407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodlessOx/pseuds/GodlessOx
Summary: Sesshoumaru hunts as his true self while he contemplates his decision to leave Rin in his half-brother's village.
Kudos: 5





	A Moonless Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> I, uh... wrote and posted this before the 15th episode of yashahime aired and only found about the twins' mother through a Google search. I, uh, really don't like yashahime. It's not just the spoiler I won't name. It just... isn't very good? It's not a bad anime persay, it's just something I can't get into. Which is a massive shame. Moroha is PERFECT. I love her to pieces. Towa is very enjoyable and is a character I was very much looking forward to. Setsuna? She's fine. I like her infatuation with the violin. I need more time with her, TBH. But overall? I just don't like yashahime, and stopped watching around episode three. 
> 
> Annnnddddd... now it's made me very uncomfortable. Like what you like, I am no place to judge. But I just can't make myself comfortable with the new canon, or enjoy the dozen other things that I don't like about the show, like how it takes everything away from our main duo.
> 
> Sorry. This isn't the place for a rant. Let's just consider this little fic an AU and move on with our lives, yes? I hope you can enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

* * *

He landed gracefully, the ground trembling beneath his great paws. Sesshoumaru lifted his head towards the night’s lightless sky and inhaled so deeply his lungs threatened to burst. He scanned the horizon for prey before turning his snout downwards to sniff the damp grass with vague interest. Everything about this evening dragged him back to his childhood. To his very first hunt on stumbling limbs. The new moon, the thick, black clouds of a storm that had yet to rage, even the moisture clinging to his fur made him feel at peace, flush with power and pride.

Nothing would escape his jaws this night.

The great dog-demon took off at full speed, determined to find a kill worthy of his time before the sun rose. It was time to tell Rin of his command, and he wanted a clear headspace when he dealt with the backlash. She was surprisingly obedient for a human child, but this, Sesshoumaru knew, would be a battle unto its own. The ivory beast leapt over a wide chasm with ease, not bothering to summon the yoki needed for flight.

_“What do you want, Rin?”_

_“To follow you forever, Lord Sesshoumaru!”_

_How naive_.

Rin was a clever girl, but she was too young, too inexperienced to make an informed decision for something of this magnitude. It was her life at stake, and it was clear to him now that even his wing of protection could only do so much. She had died. Under _his_ watch.

Sesshoumaru skidded to a halt on a grassy knoll that overlooked a large village and shook his head. No, there was nothing he could not do. He had simply been careless in his ignorance of Tenseiga’s abilities.

 _Damn this dog’s brain_. It was always hard to think swiftly and objectively in his true form. That was why he rarely relied on it. Being ruled by instinct was a weakness that was rarely made up for by greater speed and strength.

Wolf song sounded in the distance as Sesshoumaru observed the sleeping village. It’s layout was eerily similar to Inuyasha’s. Although this settlement lacked a paddy field and was smaller in size. It seemed to survive by raising livestock. The wolves were close at hand, upwind from the dog-demon and thus emboldened by ignorance. Several prized pigs would die before the hour was up. Sesshoumaru sat back on his haunches, bored and content to watch the beasts flail about, his own hunt momentarily forgotten.

 _Wolves and humans._ The only things that genuinely frightened Rin. The only two things she… well, one could never truly describe Rin as _hating_ something. No, it was mistrust. A mistrust that was ingrained into her very bones by death and loss. Wolves weren’t a problem in his mind. Rin would never have a need for wolves. They were unimportant to her life. Other humans, however? She needed to learn how to live among her own kind. It would be so easy for them both, if he just bid her to follow him like she had been, but she wouldn’t be taken care of properly. Great as he was, Sesshoumaru knew nothing of how to raise a child into a woman, much less a _human_ child. He wasn’t quite sure of her age, or when exactly her kind matured, but it would be best for Rin to grow up with someone who could understand and explain the changes in her body. And she would most certainly want a family one day. If he robbed her of her chance to come into adulthood with human males, she very well might miss her chance at marriage and children entirely. The prime her life would come and go, and neither of them would notice until she was an elder racked with regret.

 _Yes_ , Sesshoumaru thought smugly more confident in his choice than he was at the night’s start. _It would be best for her to learn the nature of attraction amongst other humans…_

_Attraction?_

Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat, a deep rumble that could no doubt be felt by the villagers as it reverberated through the foundations of their pathetic little hovels. He rose onto all fours, molten hate pooling in the back of his throat to mix with his venomous saliva and slide past his fangs to melt the silhouette of a man who did not yet exist. A man who dared take advantage of his child.

The scent of fresh blood and the howls of frightened animals rode the wind to send his senses into a riot. One hunt was over and another was about to begin in earnest.

In less than ten minutes a large ezo bear lay dead beneath his claws. A clean kill. Hardly a fight. But the meat would feed Rin and the old priestess he’d trusted with her care for weeks. The fur would also fetch them a hefty price.

Before his mind could wander back into a blind rage, Sesshoumaru pulled in his yoki and reverted back into his humanoid body. _I must teach her how to be smart_ , he thought, mind bitterly drawn back to Father’s lecherous ways. _She must learn how to spot them_ ** _and_ **_how they deserve to be treated_.

Sesshoumaru traced the outline of his fangs with his tongue and allowed himself a fraction of a smile. Totosai was going to forge a tantō for him. And this time, he would not give the old smith a chance to run from his request. As for the bear pelt, well, there was no greater skill for a young woman to learn other than the art of war, and that demon slayer would likely need a fair amount of coin to help raise the whelp growing in her belly.

Yes, his ward would be well cared for in the years to come.

* * *


End file.
